Now that Spring is here, we’re going to see a lot of properties being bought and sold, meaning a lot of people will be faced with the prospect of leaving the sense of security and familiarity they’ve had for a number of years in their old home and face the daunting task of turning their new house into a home.

See, there’s a huge difference between buying a house and creating a home. A house is a physical commodity that can simply be purchased, whereas a home is something you must nurture and create. In many ways, home is a feeling that is contained within the physicality of your house and a sense of belonging that transcends the value of the bricks and mortar.

One of the greatest tips with regard to turning your new house into a new home is the power of taking immediate action and building momentum.

Think of this analogy; consider how much effort and fuel it takes to launch an airplane into the sky, yet once it has launched into the sky it benefits from momentum meaning it can cruise along with significantly less effort. The best time to get started, is straight away, as the longer you leave things cluttered in boxes – the more overwhelmed you will feel.

A good way to get started is to chunk things down, as an example, rather than having 15 boxes to get through in one room; separate them out into three piles of five boxes. Then, use the power of short burst activity to quickly blast through those five boxes – which tackles the feeling of overwhelm, and the momentum you create will mean you get through them in no time.

We’ll now look at two principles for turning your new house into a home tips, but before you get started on those, it’s important to consider maintenance issues – as an example if you’re purchasing a property with a swimming pool, people often ask the question “do I need to have a swimming pool service in the winter?” and if the pool has been left for a few months, what is the best course of action.

There are many practical considerations such as these but let’s now get onto two principles that can help you feel more at home in your new house in a matter of hours rather than days, or weeks… or even months, if you’re particularly disorganized.

MAKE YOUR MARK

It’s important that your house feels like it belongs to you. There’s a strong chance your new house will have remnants of the previous owners tastes and preferences in terms of its style. The house might be stripped back to the basics but there’s still likely to be a feeling of it belonging to someone else. This is why you need to make your mark. Similar to how a dog will mark his territory, you need to mark your territory in your new home in order to feel a secure sense of belonging.